Open to Discussion
by luvsanime02
Summary: Clint probably should have picked a better time to ask Bucky out on a date.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Marvel comics or characters or movies and am making no money off of this fic.

**AN: **For Narcotic_Dollie! Written for the Blind Date Winterhawk Valentine's Day Exchange.

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**Open to Discussion** by luvsanime02

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Clint really doesn't mean to. It just happens. Then again, that's his entire life in a nutshell, so Clint doesn't know why he's surprised.

"We need this corner clear-"

"Have to get the rest of these people out-"

"Steve, get out of that building!"

"Want to go out on a date this Friday?"

Unfortunately, that last question was Clint. All chatter on the comms stops instantly, which Clint would take the time to be impressed over except that he's too busy being mortified over asking Bucky Barnes out during the middle of a mission.

"Well, if you're offering," Tony says eventually, because of course Tony is the one to break the silence. Clint's actually grateful for once. "I prefer sushi. But not one of those places on 10th, because _none_ of them are good, and-"

"You mean 10th street or 10th avenue?" Sam asks, and Clint's even more grateful that Sam is the kind of person who rolls with things and doesn't linger when his teammates do stupid shit.

There's a part of Clint that can't help but notice the silence from over where he knows Bucky ran into a building after Steve, hopefully to pull him out before the whole thing collapses. It's not far off from doing just that, and while Clint has no doubt that Steve could survive a building coming down on him - from sheer stubbornness, if nothing else - he still doesn't want to have to dig Steve and Bucky out of the rubble.

Natasha appears suddenly beside Clint. He doesn't flinch, just fires another arrow and redirects his aim to fire another one before the first one has even hit its target. "What's up?" he asks her casually.

Natasha pulls a comm out and hands it to him. Clint raises an eyebrow but takes it, putting the small bud in his ear. It's a pain, with the hearing aid already there, which is why they usually just patch their frequency through those before Clint goes on a mission.

On cue, the frequency in Clint's hearing aids cuts out, and he thumbs the one for the new comm to on.

Natasha turns around, shouting "Good luck!" over her shoulder before she jumps back into the fight. Before Clint can reply, there's a familiar voice in his ear.

"So, what are you thinking of for this date?" Bucky asks. He sounds busy, with something crashing around him, but not worried.

That sounds like a yes. Maybe. Definitely a maybe.

"Well," Clint says, thinking frantically and planning as he goes. Good thing he's used to that. "It's Valentine's Day, so we could either go two routes. Do the cheesy romantic date thing, with a movie, nice restaurant, a walk on the beach..."

Clint pauses because there's suddenly some even louder noises through the comms and Steve Rogers, Captain America, lets out a curse that can only come from someone Brooklyn-raised. Clint really hopes that Steve's comm is still working so that everyone else heard that, too.

"What's option two?" Bucky asks after another few minutes.

Clint grins. He doesn't think that Bucky would be asking if he wasn't interested. Yes is looking much more likely than no, at this point. "We stay in, my place or yours," he says. "Crack open a few beers and order in some pizza, and watch whatever shit sci-fi movie you want to try out next."

Science fiction movies being Bucky's new favorite thing to watch, Clint knows, because that's the reason why Natasha has been quoting Bladerunner at him for the last two weeks.

"Steve, I swear to God, get out of that apartment!" Bucky says, which isn't exactly the reply that Clint was hoping for, but well, it's his own fault for asking Bucky out while they're all on a mission.

It's only that, well, it's something that Clint's been thinking about a lot. Especially recently. Not because it's Valentine's Day this Friday, but because Bucky keeps being amazing and Clint can only take so much pressure before he cracks.

He probably should have at least waited until after the mission was over, though.

"Everything alright?" Clint asks, because they _are _in the middle of a mission and because he could be over there in just a minute, if necessary.

"Just peachy," Bucky growls, but he doesn't sound upset or in pain, only annoyed.

"So, what do you think?" Clint asks, desperately trying not to seem desperate and likely failing.

"I think," Bucky says, "that you should surprise me with which option we're going with when you pick me up on Friday."

Clint knew that Bucky was probably going to say yes, but he still can't help his grin at that response. "Six sound good?" he asks. Almost, Clint makes a crack about going out earlier so that Bucky can get a senior discount, but he should probably lay off the old person jokes until at least after the first date.

"Fine," Bucky says. "Now, could you do me a favor and get Sam over here to grab Steve before I throttle him?"

Bucky could just ask Sam himself, but he'd get a lot of shit for not being able to handle Steve on his own. Like anyone can handle Steve Rogers if he doesn't want to be handled. Clint won't get hassled for asking Sam for an assist the way that Bucky would, though.

"Sure thing," Clint agrees easily. His hearing aids still aren't patched into the general frequency, so Clint uses the old-fashioned method and flags Sam down by flapping his arms like a giant bird. Sam touches down next to him less than a minute later, looking unamused and crossing his arms.

"You're not funny," he tells Clint. Joke's on him. Clint already knew that.

"Need you to get Cap out of there before the building falls down on him," Clint says, not wasting time. If Bucky's asking for help from Sam, then Clint doubts that the structure is going to hold up for very much longer.

Sam raises his eyebrows. "Steve," he says into his comm, "you need any help over there?"

Clint is just close enough to hear Steve's negative reply. Sam rolls his eyes. Obviously, he doesn't believe Steve any more than the rest of them would. "On it," he says to Clint, but then he pauses. "How'd it go?" he asks.

He looks genuinely interested, which keeps Clint from saying something sarcastic in response. "Well, if you hear about a local disaster this weekend, you can probably assume that me and Bucky will already be in the middle of the mess, so feel free to ignore it," he allows.

Sam laughs. "Good to know," he says, and finally takes off towards Steve and Bucky. Hopefully, they manage to get out before the building drops, because Bucky recuperating from a building collapsing on his head would kind of spoil Clint's Valentine's Day plans for this weekend. Not that Clint couldn't make up something new and improvise, but he'd rather not have to when he could relax and enjoy his first date with Bucky instead.

Clint doesn't regret asking Bucky out during the mission anymore. Sure, he's going to have to deal with some ribbing from everyone else for months after this, but if this weekend does go well?

Worth it. Completely and totally worth the embarrassment, if Clint can pull this off.

All that he has to do now is decide which Valentine's Day date option would be more likely to lead to a second date. Giving himself a mental shake, Clint resolves to finish that thought later. For right now, he has a mission to deal with. Can't expect everyone else to do all the hard work for him, after all.

Clint sights his next target and takes aim, feeling optimistic and invincible and anxious all at once. He's really looking forward to this weekend now.


End file.
